City of Basketball Love

Varun Kumar (@VRKumar8)
--

As the clock was winding down in the first half of Saint Joseph’s conference opener against George Washington on Friday night, Shavar Newkirk stole the ball and had a clear path to the basket. However, he took an awkward step underneath the hoop, and his left leg buckled under him.

It didn’t look good, and though Newkirk afterwards said it feels “better than ever,” his inability to put any weight on the leg didn’t bode well.

Earlier this afternoon, Saint Joseph’s confirmed those suspicions, announcing that Newkirk would miss the rest of the season after an MRI confirmed he’d suffered a torn ACL.

The junior suffered the non-contact injury during the Hawks ‘comeback late in the half on his way to what would have been a breakaway layup. He had been a key figure in the Hawks comeback from a 12-point deficit, scoring six of his team’s last eight points before the break.

Newkirk, a New York native, was in the midst of a breakout season for the Hawks, averaging 20.3 points per game (which led the team), and 3.5 assists per game. A key returner from last year’s Atlantic 10 title team, he had been a stabilizing force for an inexperienced team along with backcourt mate Lamarr Kimble.

“This is certainly disappointing to all of us in the Saint Joseph’s basketball program. Our thoughts and concern go out to Shavar and his family,” head coach Phil Martelli said in the press release. “We're fully supportive of him, academically and socially, and as he makes his return to the basketball court, bigger, stronger and better than ever. His teammates have expressed the same level of support.”

Injuries have been a big problem for Martelli’s team this season, though Newkirk’s loss is arguably the biggest blow. They will likely lean on Kimble, the team’s second leading scorer at 14.8 ppg, the recently-returned James Demery, and freshman revelation Charlie Brown to pick up the slack in Newkirk’s absence.

The Hawks had just gotten Demery back just in time for the start of conference play, the junior wing returning for the GW game after missing the previous ten games with a stress fracture in his foot. In addition, sophomore starter Pierfrancesco Oliva was ruled out for the season after offseason knee surgery, while freshman Lorenzo Edwards has not played since November 14 due to a shoulder injury.

Despite that, St. Joe’s (7-5, 1-0 A-10) has won four of its last five games, including wins over local schools Drexel, Lafayette and Princeton. They will take on one of the A-10’s preseason favorites, Rhode Island, on Tuesday at 7:00 in Kingston, R.I, before returning to Hagan Arena the following week to take on George Mason